I recently received an advance copy of Sanjeev Sabhlok’s
book, published by Anthem Press in December 2008, soon to be available in
bookstores in India. Sabhlok worked for eighteen years in the Indian
Administrative Service before resigning and migrating to Australia where he
works in the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance as a Senior
Manager.

Heavily praised by Gurcharan Das, the author of India
Unbound and former CEO of Proctor and Gamble India, who believes that this
book ‘must be read by every Indian’, this indeed is a very important book
that can potentially change India’s future. Half the book is freely available
for preview on the internet.

This should perhaps not be taken as a book in the
traditional sense (even though it displays considerable scholarship,
reflecting the doctorate that Sabhlok holds in economics from USA) but a political pamphlet. Sabhlok critiques the corrupt governance system of India with startling vigour and points out how the socialist policies of India (India continues to be a socialist republic even today) and hypocritical political system which
favours the corrupt have, together, led to serious underperformance as a
nation.

The book discusses a vast range of issues. Issues not be
covered in the book in detail due to constraints of space are covered in
Online Notes which are freely available on the internet.

Sabhlok believes that policies must be informed by the
principles of freedom and justice (the system that operationalises these
being capitalism). A key feature of capitalism is its emphasis on morality.
The immorality of socialism both as a theory and practice is intense and
overpoweringly depressing. According to Sabhlok, Nehru was the ‘Messiah’ of
socialism in India. India’s love affair with socialism is not yet over.
Sabhlok asks us to break free of Nehru because his policies have proved too
expensive for India both in lost opportunities and lost lives.

Perhaps thinking some readers are may be put off by the
title of the book, Sabhlok addresses potential concerns in the preface and
first chapter. Sabhlok then outlines the history of liberal and socialist
thought in India. He evaluates a number of things we take for granted about India’s governance, pointing out pitfalls of the socialist arguments that Nehru stood for,
even as he finds much to support in Gandhi’s views.

Sabhlok depicts a free society as a society with a few key
properties that include migration inwards from less free societies, less
terrorism, and greater wealth and innovation. I liked Sabhlok’s simple
discussion of the market system which often eludes even those of us well
grounded in the theory of markets. The invisible hand is one of the hardest
things to explain, and Sabhlok does an excellent job of it. His approach
reflects the Austrian school of thought, most recently represented by Hayek.
He finds collectivist identities unsustainable for the most part, and
incompatible with modern thought and civilisation. Therefore a strong flavour
of individualism and individual responsibility permeates his book.

He then discusses the ills of the Indian Constitution and
discusses land ceilings, reservations, and the uniform civil code. Sabhlok
takes an analytical approach to issues with all his conclusions derived from
the principles of freedom and justice. He asks us to take a fresh look at the
Indian Constitution and to make the Constitution a robust protector of our
freedoms.

Chapter 4 looks at the cause of political corruption in India, and proposes a range of well argued reasons why politicians in India are necessarily corrupt.
Coming from a strong ethical perspective, Sabhlok is unable to support even
people like Manmohan Singh, who are commonly perceived to be people of
integrity. The reason he offers is thought provoking – making us reflect on
the extremely low level of political integrity found in India, and makes for compelling reading.

The next chapter deals with the reform of the bureaucracy.
This is a particularly enlightening chapter for those not familiar with the
differences between the Indian bureaucracy and those in developed countries
like Australia. Given that Sabhlok is perhaps the only Indian civil servant
to have extensive public sector experience in two countries, his views are
worth paying attention to. At least to me it is now clear what kind of
reforms are needed in India.

The last chapter of the book is a bold, almost clinical,
perspective on the nature of changes Sabhlok would like India to put in place. His narrative is based on a thought experiment: of how, as a
hypothetical Prime Minster of India, he would establish – along with his
imagined Cabinet – new norms and practices of governance. It is here that his
extensive experience comes to the forefront. We learn the exact method by
which the incentives that operate in India’s governance system can be
changed, and how, like a jigsaw puzzle, the necessary change can be put
together systematically.

In summary, this is a book full of new and innovative
solutions grounded in classical liberal principles. This book is an
eye-opener, and should open up urgently needed debates for a change in India. An excellent book.